1. Field
This application relates generally to injection and/or aspiration devices, systems and methods, and more specifically, to devices, systems and methods of delivering anesthetics, other pharmaceuticals or fluids and/or other substances to a patient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Physicians, clinicians and/or other medical personnel often need to deliver a volume of anesthetic or other medication (e.g., steroid), other fluid and/or other material to or near (or aspirate fluid from) an anatomical location, such as, for example nerve tissue, a joint, an organ and/or the like. Accordingly, a needle can be inserted through a patient's skin and into the targeted location. A syringe or other fluid source that is in fluid communication with the needle can then be used to deliver the desired volume or other dosage of a medicament (e.g., anesthetic), fluid and/or other material to the targeted anatomical location.
For example, physicians, clinicians, and/or other medical personnel often administer anesthetic agents to patients before and/or during surgical and/or other medical procedures. Anesthetics (e.g., nerve blocks) can be delivered to or near particular nerves to cause the temporary loss or reduction of sensation in particular areas of the patient's body. Anesthetics can provide one or more benefits and/or other advantages to patients, such as, for example, decreased post-operative pain, decreased nausea, lower incidence of blood clots, less blood loss, shorter hospital stays after ambulatory surgery, such as orthopedic surgery, a lessened stress response by the body and/or the like. Anesthetics can be particularly appealing to patients undergoing orthopedic procedures, which often involve limbs and are associated with a significant amount of post-operative pain. For example, nerve blocks are often used for procedures used in the repair of certain joints and/or other portions of the anatomy (e.g., shoulders, ACL, knee, elbow, hand procedures wrist, ankle, fingers, toes, etc.).
Anesthetics can also be used for pain management purposes, for example, chronic neck, back, joint pain and/or the like. In some embodiments, an anesthetic injection procedure is accomplished, at least in part, using one or more drugs, other medicaments or fluids (e.g., alcohol or phenol) and/or the like that at least partially destroy nerve tissue. Although anesthetics can provide significant pain relief and offer many advantages and other benefits relating to surgical and/or other medical procedures, it still carries a risk of injury and other complications, such as, for example, inadvertent or unintended nerve damage and adverse effects resulting from a failure to properly locate targeted nerve tissue. Accordingly, various embodiments of improved anesthetic delivery systems are disclosed herein.